Dyson Reinvents The Wheel

April 29, 2005 First James Dyson changed the way the vacuum works -- now he's changing the way we vacuum. Dyson's DC15 vacuum with The Ball technology is Dyson's most significant advancement since his creation of a vacuum cleaner that doesn't lose suction. The Ball has taken three years to develop and has 182 patents. The Ball is Dyson's solution to the stiff, inefficiency of the back- and-forth movement that makes vacuuming a chore. Because there hasn't been any major change in the layout of vacuums in the last 100 years, we have simply put up with this frustration. Changing direction with traditional upright vacuum cleaners involves several push-pull maneuvers or requires walking around to direct the machine. You crash into chairs, bash into boxes and scuff the base boards. It can be tiring, frustrating and often, due to the lack of control, you miss whole areas of your home.

The patented Ball technology replaces the traditional, rigid two wheels on the base of the machine with a ball, allowing the vacuum to twist and turn effortlessly around furniture and low-lying obstacles. The Ball successfully eliminates the struggle of manoeuvring a vacuum around the room, so that you control the movement, not the other way around like traditional vacuums. The Ball moves in a totally different way; turning a corner is as simple as a turn of the wrist. The fluidity achieved means that you are no longer restricted to using your entire body to steer. Pulling and pushing a traditional vacuum cleaner back and forth, back and forth may seem like a minor irritation right now, but imagine giving up your car's power steering. Or think about the motion of a ballpoint pen; curving and changing direction is effortless as the ball enables the pen to glide freely on the page. It's the same with The Ball -- vacuuming is smoother, easier, freer and much less strenuous.

"We've spent many years trying to make vacuum cleaners better and better, said James Dyson. "We have developed cleaners that don't lose suction and now we've made one that's easier to manoeuvre too. The Ball has many ingenious, original patented mechanisms."

DC15 has a pivot point between the body of the machine and the cleaning head, which means it maintains constant contact with the floor, even when steering around furniture, so it glides easily and gracefully into spaces that other vacuums miss. Its brush bar can be removed easily and is driven by gears rather than a belt. It also has a telescopic wand, which simply extends, allowing you to reach tight corners and edges. The motor is inside the ball keeping the centre of gravity close to the ground for maximum stability. And like all Dyson vacuum cleaners, The Ball doesn't lose suction.

One third of Dyson's worldwide employees are engineers and scientists working in the Dyson Research, Design and Development Center in Malmesbury, England and are dedicated to developing new and better technology. Dyson's rigorous testing means the DC15 has been put through its paces before reaching homes. For example, one of the many tests to ensure robust engineering includes Dyson vacuum cleaners being dropped with the force of up to 150 times their own weight. Dyson has 24/7 testing on new products, both human and mechanical, within a range of different scenarios designed to test them to the point of destruction.